I hope you all had a Merry Christmas with lots of presents, food and happiness, but now it's time to say ''goodbye'' to 2012, and say ''hello'' to a new year.
Because of the crisis, 2013 will be a year with more austerity than 2012, and I think that these measures are very severe and I don't know how long people will stand them...
But well, let's talk about happy things, so I wish you all, a great year, full of good things, like health, happiness and love, and with the start of a new year, comes school, so I hope that the students can improve their marks and achieve their objectives.
So tonight, ''enter with the right foot'' and don´t forget to eat twelve raisins and drink champagne, but the last thing, is only for adults! Inês Ferreira 10ºA
At first, it looks like a title of a movie that premiered in theatres, but the truth is that these are apparently real.
NASA has already announced that the end of the world would not be this year, not even close.
(Not that i had believed in such things, but i´m positive that a few people did, and still do).
Anyway, the thing is that after they had denied this event, they came up with a new one: three days of darkness, in the whole world.
That´s right, we are going to stay without sun and all the types of energy for maybe more than three days, or at least that was what the " nasa´s scientists" had said, Because a few days after i read this i found out that they were talking about the comet "Elenin", that is crumbled for thousands of years, and by that fact, his passage through Earth would not block sunlight and therefore it was an authentic nonsense.
After all of this, i thought that they were joking us... and who knows, maybe they are!
Christmas is here once more and with
it we find ourselves surrounded by carols, mistletoe, x-mas trees, sweets and
presents… without forgetting of course the legendary Santa Claus.
The tradition of Santa goes away
back, however the old man in a red suit with white collar and cuffs, black
boots and a great white beard became popular when the first Christmas ‘commercials
from Coca-Cola came out. The urban myth says that Santa wears red
because of the colors of the brand, but that’s not truth. The only thing Coca-Cola did was to use Santa’s
image, although it was slightly changed by the hands of Haddon Sundblom. To
prove this theory we can face the fact that this brand wasn’t even the first
one to use Santa in ads.
Although I’m x-mas’ number one fan
this makes me think about its meaning nowadays. The most popular figure of this
holiday became a symbol because of a massive campaign by Coca-Cola. It’s a well-known
fact that x-mas is today a gigantic business, I don’t believe that x-mas should
end because of that. I guess that it is important to remember the true
meaning of it and enjoy it by the small things that it brings us and not only
the presents.
Personally I love x-mas for its
songs, for lights in the street, for the cold afternoons by the fireplace with the
tree in the background and over all because of the feeling of happiness and
hope in a new year.
I leave you with wishes of a great Christmas
and a wonderful new year! I will also finish as I started and upload a
Coca-Cola commercial which despite everything
is always an inspiring view of Christmas.
The winnersof the
Nobel Prizefor Physics from this yearwere awardedyesterdayin a ceremony heldin Stockholm,
Sweden.
The frenchSergeHaroche,
fromthe Collègede
France, and the americanDavidJ.Wineland, from
the University of Colorado, bothwith
68 years old,receivedthe Nobel
Prize forPhysicsfor their workwith"innovative experimental methodsthat allowthe measurement andmanipulationofindividual quantum systems."
They developedways of measuringquantum particles(tiny scale) without destroying them, something thatpreviously seemedunreachable. The announcement was madein Octoberby the RoyalSwedishAcademy ofSciences.
It was a long time ago... I'd say 9 years ago. It looked like another regular day at my ''grandmother's'' house. Why in inverted commas? Because she wasn't my biological grandmother. Still, that lady probably knew me more than everyone else. While my mom was at work, she took care of me. 6.30am everyday I woke up and before catching the bus, my mom left me at my second home.
One day, I got back from the mall with my ''grandfather''. Very happy I was, until a strange thing started to happen. The lady wasn't feeling so well so she went to the hospital.
Apparently she had brain cancer. I didn't know that, in fact, I think I was the last person to know it, due to my age.
After spending some time at the hospital, she went home, but not her's, mine, because she couldn't take care of herself.
June 7, the day of her birthday. She turned 62 in a hospital stretcher.
June 8, she went back to the hospital for examination.
June 10, my birthday. I didn't party like I wanted despite being only a child. Although my grandmother's condition, I still enjoyed my birthday, because like a child I wasn't aware of what was happening.
The following day, June 11. In the morning my mom went to the hospital, to see how she was.
When my mother arrived home, she was preparing me. I didn't know why.
Then she told me. '' You won't go to her house anymore...''
I questioned: ''Why mommy?''
She answered: ''She passed away...''
I started crying like there was no tomorrow...
Today, I realized that in spite of belonging to the past, my life turned upside down.
Everytime I think of her, I start thinking about what it would be like if she was here.
Unfortunately she's not.
Hurricane Sandy devastated portions of the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States during late October 2012, with lesser impacts in the Southeastern, Midwestern states and Eastern Canada. Sandy, classified as the eighteenth named storm and tenth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, was a Category 2 storm at its peak intensity. The storm became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record and at least 253 people were killed along the path of the storm in seven countries.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I think the Hurricane Sandy was the biggest catastrophe of the world. It caused thousands of deaths and damages. There could have been fewer deaths if people were more cautious because they were alarmed in advance.
In my opinion the end of the world won't happen. This idea is a myth created by "Maias" and they can convince the population in the 21st century.
NASA is trying to convince the population that it isn't true but there have been people who invested millions of dollars in basements and other preparations to survive the 21st December 2012.
A few years ago the english theatre club at school performed this sketch for other students and parents. It was very funny indeed. I had a good time during the rehearsals and I'm sure the students did too. Good old times!
Aristides de Sousa Mendes was the Portuguese Consul in Bordeaux, France, during World War II. He saved an estimated 30,000 lives, the majority of them Jews, when Paris fell to the advancing Nazi army in June of 1940. Helped by his wife and children, Sousa Mendes issued visas to as many refugees as he could, without regard to nationality or religion.
The operation has been described by the Holocaust scholar Yehuda Bauer as “perhaps the largest rescue action by a single individual during the Holocaust.”
He issued the visas against the Portuguese government orders for which he was recalled and subjected to disciplinary action. A lawyer by training, after being dismissed from is diplomatic post, he was disbarred by Dictator Salazar and not allowed to practice law. A father of 14 children, he died destitute and in obscurity in 1954.
I'm looking forward to watching this film as this man was a rebel who saved thousands of lives.
Hey there everyone!
Today I was browsing the net and I found this awesome publication in The History Channel website. I hope you enjoy it, there are some pretty curious stuff about this american president and hero. You can find the link below.Have a nice weekend folks!
Kerri Strug is a retired
American gymnast. She started training gymnastics at the age of
eight. At the age of fourteen she won a team bronze medal at the
Barcelona Olympics, 1992. In 1996 she participated in the Atlanta
Olympics.
This was the highest
point of Kerri's career. In the final rotation the Russians had an
advantage of 0.897 from the second classified, the USA team. The
Russians were doing a floor exercise and the Americans were doing a
vault exercise. In the first vault attempt Strug damaged her ankle
but she was encouraged to do the second attempt in order to ensure a
good result for the team.
Kerri did the second
vault and received a score of 9.712. She landed the vault in only one
foot, something that had never been seen before. This vault made the
USA team win the first team gold medal in gymnastics and Kerri was
considered a national hero.
Strug was unable to
compete to win a medal of her own because she sacrificed her
interests for the team interests. The USA gymnastics team of 1996 was
the first to win a gold medal and was named Magnificent Seven for this accomplishment. Kerri shows us that only when we are
willing to make sacrifices we can win as a team.
Team spirit, solidarity
and hard work are crucial to evolution. These concepts must be
applied not only to sports but in every single thing we do. At work,
at school and in our family relationships. We must show that we are
available to help others and show that we are humble enough to accept
the help of others. Only by sharing knowledge and by caring about the
people around us we can be happy and satisfied with our actions.
Hey
everyone, I don’t know if you rebember but a few classes ago we talked about
how history can repeat itself, it happens that my father told me about this
great movie, called American History X, it is one of his favorite movies and
now it’s definitly one of mine.
American
History X tells us the story of a normal american family, the city they live in
has received a big amount of immigrants and transfomed itself from a calm neighbourhood to
a dangerous place to live in. This becames obvious when the father of the
family, who was a cop, gets killed in duty, leaving behind four kids.
One of
them is Derek, a convicted neo-nazi who sees his beliefs confirmed with the
death of his father. Consumed by rage Derek starts to influence other young
boys and girls of the community to raise against the immigrants who in his
opinion are stealing their jobs and peace.
The
scary factor on this movie is how the nazi propaganda is easy to expect and how
it can make sense to people who feel angry and need to blame someone. Derek’s
ideas became a motto for many young people, including his brother Danny who
sees him like a role model. The nazi ideals are difficult to fight once
they are ingrained in peoples minds and souls and soon there’s a gang of skinheads
who run about the little town scaring away what they called “niggers”.
However,
this peace was a lie, in the middle of the night Derek finds some black guys
trying to steal his father’s van, he kills them, believing in his good action.
This leads him to prison, where he is going to question his ideals, confronted
by the hard prison truth. Meanwhile, his brother follows his steps in the free
world and when Derek gets out as a new man, its hard for him to understand that what they were after was wrong. Danny has to deliver a paper about Derek in that
same week, “American History X”, as a punishement for delivering another based
in Main Kempf. With his brother's help he finishes it, knowing how easy it is to
follow the wrong path, consumed by anger, he also knows how hard it is to admit
that the man you look up was wrong. The lesson, I believe, is that we should
analize the ideas that rule our lives, questioning if they are right, and don’t
trust them only because someone we look up to told us to do so. And of course "Hate is baggage".
This
is a really amazing movie, it shows racism in every prespective and I highly
recommend it. Not only is the story great, as the actors and the filming are
also breathtaking. Edward Norton plays Derek and my dad was right when he told
me he was an amazing actor. You can see Norton’s acting in the scene I leave
you with, and confirm his talent, this is one of the best scenes I’ve ever seen
in the history of cinema. (The expression on Derek's face is priceless and it resumes the entire movie!) After that I hope you watch the movie and find it as
awesome as I did, in my opinion this is one of those movies who can change the
way you see the world.
On Saturday, I watched ''Letters to Juliet''. It's an excellent movie, I loved it.
This movie has been in my watchlist for some time but I had never watched it before. It's really amazing and I think, with no doubt, you should see it.
Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young girl, decided to go on holiday with her fiancé, Victor (Gael Carcía Bernal) but he only cares about work because he wants to find suppliers around the world to open his business. While Victor is in conventions, Sophie joins the Secretaries of Juliet, to kill time. The Secretaries of Juliet were women who answered to love letters, leaving with no answer.
One day, Sophie found a letter from a woman named Claire (Vanessa Redgrave), who waited for a response for 50 years. She decided to answer that letter. His grandson, Charlie (Chris Egan) shows up wanting some responsabilities.
Later on they look for Claire's true love, Bartollini Lorenzo (Franco Nero). But this isn't an easy task because there are many Bartollini Lorenzo in the area.
Now I can tell you what happens. Who gets who. But, in my opinion, the film becomes more beautiful and interesting if I don't spoil it for you.
I spent my Halloween at my cousin's house with some friends and some girls. When I got to my cousin's I just started trying to socialize with everyone and then we started doing various games, playing table football, billiards and cards and over the night I started to know people better those who were at the party and that we did not know each other. After that we ate cake and then immediately we went to the pool until it was time to go back home. I enjoyed myself a lot.
This is why I love London where extravagance seems to be a rule. You my wear whatever you feel like and nobody cares. What is really important is creativity and difference.
Don't you like it?
Reading has always
been a good way for us to leave out the world.
When I’m reading, I can be the
character and live their adventures. For example, I can feel exactly what they
feel and it is amazing.
I really like reading. I couldn’t
wait much time without reading a book. I don't like all the books, of course. I
have my books of choice and even writers like Nicholas Spark and Stephanie
Meyer. I really like their books.
I recommend everyone to read because
it’s an effective way to distract ourselves and even overcome less good
moments.
Hello
everyone, I’m here to talk to you about an English novelist, one of the most
famous ever: Jane Austen. She was born in Stevenson, Hampshire, on 16th
of December, 1775. I wish I knew this writer better, but I’ve only read
one book, Pride and Prejudice. (there’s
a movie based on this novel, starring Keira Knightley, which is just
wonderful!) She dedicated her books to romantic fiction, using realism to portrait
English high and middle class society life style. Her books are considered
conservative by many, but everyone notices the hidden humor and criticism. Most of her novels are dedicated to women's lives, speaking about their marriages, thoughts and family life.
Jane
Austen’s books are studied today in many schools around the world, because everyone
recognizes her work as an important mark in the English and world literature. Among
her novels we can find titles as Emma,
Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey or Persuasion.
As I
said, I really wish I knew this novelist better, but my “want to read” list is enormous
and since Pride andPrejudice, I’ve never had "returned" to Jane Austen. Actually, I remember to talk to you about Jane when I was thinking about what I’ve to read
this year! If you have already read Jane
Austen and you are looking for some quality English literature, why don’t you try
one of the Bronte sisters? Emily Bronte or Charlotte Bronte are always good
choices!
I leave
you with images from the movie based on Pride
and Prejudice and a portrait of Jane, joined by her signature. (If you want you can also check the movie about Jane’s life, it’s called Becoming Jane, and her
character is played by Anne Hathaway.)
The twenty sixth article of The Universal
Declaration of the Human Rights says that: “Everyone has the right
to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and
professional education shall be made generally available and higher education
shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.” This article of The
Universal Declaration of the Human Rights is fulfilled in most of the developed
countries but there are still some people who are risking their life in order
to be able to go to school.
Malala Yousafzai is one of those
people. She was born in Pakistan in the year of 1998. She is now 14 years old
and Tuesday she was shot in the head and in the neck by a Taliban. Ihsanullah
Ihsan claimed responsibility for the attack saying that she “is the symbol of
the infidels and obscenity”.
I chose to write about this subject
because I consider that Malala is an excellent role model and a great
inspiration. While some kids in Portugal were mumbling about having to wake up
early to go to school she was writing a blog for BBC reporting her daily life
and defending the young women’s rights. It is hard to believe that a girl with
14 years old could be as brave and bold as Malala is. She really is a rare case
and she makes me wonder: How many children are forbidden to go to school? How
many women are suffering from domestic violence? How many girls see their
sexual freedom being taken away every day?
Today Malala is still being kept in
the Intensive Care Unit and soon she will be moved out of Pakistan for further
treatment. I wish her the best luck and I hope that this event will help some
people realize how lucky they are.
